There are a handful of sci-fi fantasy flicks that would be fun to attend as a group (and Spidey2 is at the top of the list) but I can think of only one movie that we really _should_ get together for: whatever piece of poop FOX decides to put the Episode III trailer in front of.

Considering your average geek's propenisty for diefying and/or villifying every single sci-fi/fantasy film released (see the "ain't it cool" boards for the worst examples of this practice) the post-viewing discussions of the films we see together will probably be pretty interesting...

-Le Penguin
"...and I got _this_ scar sneaking under the door of a pay toilet."

A quick run-down of films sure to draw the freaks out of our literal or figurative basements:

Alien/Predator (meh)
The Day After Tomorrow (from the makers of ID4; not my style)
I, Robot (trailer looks terrible, but you never know...)
Shrek 2 (didn't care for the first, plus I don't need to hear Mike Myers' way overdone Scottish accent ever again)
The Punisher (not interested enough to make a snarky comment)
Van Helsing (see I, Robot)
The Incredibles (Pixar + Brad Bird = can't wait)
Scooby Doo 2 (this can't be for real... I must've died and gone to Hell)
Garfield (yep... definitely in Hell)
Ella Enchanted (not a geek film, but Anne Hathaway needs to hurry herself on over to my place right this very minute)
Jersey Girl (Kevin Smith's earned a shot at making a straightforward flick)
Kill Bill 2 (first one didn't do anything for me)
Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow (could be great, could be horrible, could be completely unremarkable; this is the kind of movie that justifies film critics)
The Stepford Wives (WALKEN! WALKEN! WALKEN!)
Hellboy (here's where I start kicking myself for never reading the comics back when all my friends were recommending them)
Spider-Man 2 (first one may have been the perfect comic book movie, let's see if Rami can keep that vibe going)
The Village (m. Night's movies don't always mean a lot when they're over, but damn they's creepy while yer watchin' 'em)
Dawn of the Dead (cautiously optimistic on this one; how was that preview tonight?)
Chronicles of Riddick (no opinion on this one, either)
Harry Potter and the Creepy Yet Charming Predicament (wake me when it's over)
Godzilla (possibly the movie I'm most looking forward to seeing)
Troy (cautiously optimistic on this one as well)

AICN is still a good source of info on genre tv shows and is one of the first places you'll find links to movie trailers (sometimes before they're officially released.) Their horrible message boards are at least easily ignored. What bothers me most about the site -besides the rampant narcissism (sp?) and horrible spelling/grammar in the reviews- is the fact that in recent weeks, every film or tv show mentioned on the site is done so with a link to its respective sale page on Amazon.com. A good sales strategy for Amazon, yes, but it shreds what little integrity the writers had left.

The latest news I heard about the Godzilla 50th anniversary flick is a tentative title, "Godzilla: Final War". Also, apparently Toho is going to give the Big G another break after this one... not a permanent retirement, just ten years or so to give room for fresh ideas. (or simple nostalgia build-up) I'd heard previously that there will be at least ten other monsters in this one, spanning G's entire career, but I don't know which ones. (a few are no-brainers....)

As for other 2004 genre films...

I definitely want to see Hellboy, though I find myself in the same situation as you do, Penguin. My only experience with the character so far has been a crossover that also involved Batman and Starman (Jack Knight). I'm going to wait until after I've seen the film to try picking up any of the collections, though. That way I won't be thinking, "It doesn't measure up to the source material." Although since (I believe) Mike Mignola is heavily involved with the film, it should be okay there.

AVP... I saw a short behind-the-scenes snippet at last WindyCon, and it did pique my interest.

Spidey 2 and HP3 are on my to-see list, but they get plenty of hype elsewhere, so I'll leave off here.

Van Helsing... I would see this if a group goes, but not neccessarily if I'm going it alone

I, Robot... haven't seen the trailer, but I'm more likely to see this one just to see how badly they butchered the source material. (cheap show, though)

For every good adaptaion like "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" and "The Wizard of Oz," there's ten thousand "Cat in the Hat" and "The Grinch"es out there. They're hard to ignore in today's "ad/media firebombing" world, but fortunately the bad ones are usually soon forgotten.